News
Product Placement Hits Scripts Early
April 5, 2010 – A New York Times business-section feature article suggests that movie script writers are plugging product placements into their screenplays in an early stage, encouraged by their lawyers, agents and studio executives.
The article by Stephanie Clifford cites Transformers and Star Trek screenwriter Roberto Orci getting coached by his lawyer Jordan Yospe to have heroes in thriller script The 28th Amendment stop in a fast food restaurant in the movie, which opens the door for a promotional tie-in. In the script, the heroes are on the run with the President of the United States.
“In the past, studio executives made deals to include products in films,” says the New York Times article. “Now, with the help of people like Mr. Yospe, writers and producers themselves are cutting the deals often before the movie is cast or the script is fully shaped, like The 28th Amendment, which Warner Bros. has agreed to distribute... The more intricately a film involves a product, the more a brand pays for the appearance, offering fees ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million a film.”
A lot of this seems forced, but some product placement is a natural. In romantic comedy Up the the Air, the writer/director Jason Reitman wanted the George Clooney road-warrior character to stay as a recognized hotel for realism, not a lodgings under a ficticous brand. Hence, a tie-in was arranged with Hilton Hotels, which gets plenty of exposure in the film.
The film crew got free Hilton stays, which kept production costs down, while the hotel chain served a consultant to the film allowing it to help shape its portrayal.
For full text, click link below:
www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/business/media/05screen.html
www.marketingmovies.net/chapters/chapter-4-tieins-prod-placement/
www.marketingmovies.net/news/audi-drives-hard-for-film-product-placements/